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Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Hey folks...check out this piece by The Score's Jason Thom on Texas Freshman and Canadian native Tristan Thompson...
Tristan was in town over the holidays and visited HoopDome at Downsview Park in support of the Canada Basketball scrimmage for 1992 and up players. Also passing through to show love and unity were Khem Birch(PITT bound) and Myck Kabongo(Texas bound)! It was a great day. I was there as well and will have lots of footage plus a recap of the day's action very soon. Stay tuned.
Great job on the feature by Jason.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Vaughan Classic took place this past weekend and the Vaughan Voyageurs of Thornhill, and the #1 team in the GTA and possibly the province took the chip in a blowout win over the surprise finalists, the Pickering Trojans! The tournament was a two-day event(Thurs-Friday) that saw the hosts dismantle an over matched West Humber squad 82-50 with ease. Andrew Wiggins pretty much coasted in the game...had a couple impressive plays but basically rested for the upcoming games on Friday.
Most impressive was Vaughan reserve guard Brenden Clarke who tied for game and team-high 18 points.
Clarke was efficient, draining outside shots and also taking it to the bucket for points in the paint.
Game two featured Westview, from North West Toronto vs. Mississauga's St. Joan of Arc. Interesting game as Westview held on for the 70-64 victory, but not before dead-eye shooter Muzher Mirza dropped in a tournament-high 29 points on an array of pull up j's and three point bombs. It was my first time seeing him and this dude is simply sensational from beyond the three-point arc and is one of the best shooters in the GTA!
In game three, one of my favourite GTA players took the court...Asher Lewis. This 2011 baller can do it inside and outside and has an engine that never stops! He's a marksman from outside, and you don't want to leave him open, as Eastern Commerce can attest to; they let him get off a game-winning three to capture the Bronze Medal at the season opening Henry Carr Classic. Lewis' defence is also underrated as he has the lateral quicks to stay with most guards he's defending.
Pickering easily handled one of the better teams from the Ottawa area, Hillcrest, 71-53.
The last game of day one featured star Duane Notice and St. Mikes going up against St. Anne's(Tecumseh).
This one was never in doubt as Notice paced the Blue Raiders dropping 27 points in a 62-39 victory.
Top PG Malcolm Duvivier, Joey Clemenzi, Jelani Daniel and Daniel Pinero all had solid games for St. Mikes. Zachary Hicks was impressive for St. Anne's pouring in 15 points for the losers.

Check out Pickering's Asher Lewis and Nevell Provo as they talk about their performance at the tournament and what they will work on going forward...

DAY 2

Day two, the semi-finals match up would be Vaughan vs. Westview and Pickering vs. St. Mike's.

Vaughan went into the Westview game pretty confident and that confidence was evident in at 72-49 drubbing in the game. Henry Tan and Andrew Wiggins notched 17 each for the Voyageurs while Matthew Almufa added 10 for the losing squad.
St. Mike's was looking to get to the final and face off with Vaughan...as Notice mentioned to me in an interview after the tournament. So maybe they were looking a bit ahead and past a young but dangerous Pickering squad in the other semi. Pickering took the game though, 85-76 behind Damian Rashford's 21 points. Duvivier paced the Blue Raiders with a game-high 25 points.

Notice talks about anticipating reaching the finals against Vaughan below...

CHAMPIONSHIIP

So on to the Championship final...where the Vaughan Voyageurs faced off against the Pickering Trojans.
Now...I thought going in, that Vaughan could easily have lost this game due to two factors. Key reserve Clarke got hurt in the semi-final, limping around with a sprained ankle afterwards and starter Roshane Roberts was out of the country with family. But the Voyageurs were simply too talented for the Trojans to handle. The game was close for the 1st quarter and into the 2nd. But the 2nd half was where the #1 team in the province took control, especially defensively. Vaughan continually got out on the break due to tremendous inside presence and rebounding by Wiggins and Cy Richards-Samuels. Wiggins was all over the paint, swatting shots and layups and simply changing and altering shot attempts by Pickering. While Richards-Samuels cleaned up on the glass. When the Trojans tried to drive...players like Troy Knight and Tan were there to slide and recover into position forcing tons of missed shots by Pickering.
Trojans head coach Mike Gordensky had an issue with some Vaughan players undercutting his players on drives. He had a point on a few plays as the Vaughan defenders, as well as Pickering got away with a lot of physicality in the game especially when players turned the corner and went baseline. Vaughan is a very good defensive team so it shouldn't be surprising that other teams would have an issue with how much the refs let them get away with.
In the end...the Vaughan squad was too much going on to take the title...78-48. Asher Lewis led Pickering with 13 points in a game who's outcome was determined very early in the 2nd half.

Here I talk to Tan and Samuels about Vaughan's 3rd tournament victory this season...

Sights and Sounds

In the crowd was Northwestern assistant coach Ivan Vujic(pronounced VOO-itch) who came up from Chicago to check out Andrew Wiggins and the other top players in the tournament. He left impressed by Wiggins' athleticism but also noted he needed to tighten up his shot form, consistent effort and body language. I think with Wiggins that he's so young and extremely talented that he loses a bit of focus at times. But with age and maturity and increased fundamentals he will be a supreme force going forward. Coach Vujic was also highly impressed with Henry Tan and his ability to get to the rack at will and his court presence. He and Vlad Matevski(Stefan Nastic' trainer and friend) who also sat court side says Tan needs to improve his decision making and his outside shot as well and wants him to add a pull-up mid-range jumper and a floater to his repertoire. They both feel that Tan is surely a mid-major Division 1 player Stateside and will definitely be keeping an eye on the rising PG. Duane Notice, is a man amongst boys physically on the court. He has a Division 1 college/pro-body structure already and is supremely talented. He was a bit out of control at times and while trying to be too flashy made some unforced and unnecessary turnovers. He's a player that seems to have a long leash with his coaches and that sometimes leads to him making harder plays than is truly necessary; but his talent is undeniable. If he can clean up his handle and us a jab step and go or crossover move he will be very effective. He also shines on the break where his physicality is just too much for most high-school level defenders. I would like to see Notice really work on his outside shot as it's very loose and his form a bit creaky. But it's scary to think what he will become if he develops a consistent outside game to go with his slashing, penetrating and finishing ability.
St. Mike's forward #24 Daniel Pinero was a surprise revelation at the tournament. He's very long...looks to be about 6'4" to 6'5". He was really aggressive, especially from the free-throw line in...and had a couple dunks as well. As teams focused on Notice and Duvivier a lot, Pinero used his freedom to his advantage and put up some really decent numbers over the two days. But he's not only a pretty good basketball player; apparently he's also an aspiring baseball player as well. Jelani Daniel impressed me as well. Especially his lateral quicks on defence. He was an integral part in the pressing defence that St. Mike's employs throughout their games. He also handled well and found open guys in the open court while scoring several nice buckets as well. Nevell Provo is a player to look out for over the next few years in the GTA ball scene. The young prodigy and Grade 9 student, makes solid decisions on the court and plays within the system the Pickering coaches employ. He's adept at using the pick and roll and is highly coachable. Talking to Pickering assistant coach and former Pickering standout Kirk Salesman, he says Provo is the next great one out of Pickering and will be personally working and training with him to get the most out of his potential.

Overall, the Vaughan Classic was a pretty good tournament. The staff and volunteer crew were amazing and I'd like to especially thank Vaughan Head Coach Gus Gymnopoulos for putting on a nice event and making the media welcome as he always is at Vaughan. Congrats to the Pickering Trojans for making the final and to Vaughan for winning the championship.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Eastern Commerce Basketball is proud to announce this year’s teams for the upcoming Holiday Classic. The Holiday Classic is one of the Canada’s premiere tournaments and will have most of the provinces top teams. Ten of the top 13 in the GTA teams will be there plus a few surprises from outside the GTA. This years tournament will feature some outstanding talent including Denison’s Gonzaga bound Kevin Pangos and Vaughan's outstanding phenom Andrew Wiggins. This year’s tournament will take place at Jarvis Collegiate and Downsview Secondary on December 9, 10 and 11.. The teams participating and the draw are listed below:

In a report dated December 2nd, 2010, Mike White of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Kiski school in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania is losing Sim and Tanveer Bhullar and Stefan Jankovic effective immediately. Apparently it has something to do with "AAU stuff" according to head coach Daryn Freedman.
In the shocking news, Sim Bhullar and Jankovic are transferring to Huntington Prep(W.V.) while Tanveer is Maryland bound...apparently at Naz Long's old school Montrose Christian! Huntington would have taken him but they didn't have the room on the roster.
Sim's choices for college have apparently been narrowed down to Syracuse, PITT and West Virginia, all of the Big East, so it seems that heading to Huntington may be in direct correlation to West Virginia being one of the teams that he will be attending for college.

Also some blog commenters say and it's not my opinion :
That Huntington is basically a travelling team and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins territory. So this could be a way for Huggins and West V to get Sim prepared for college by getting him in shape and improving his game skill-wise.
Yet another blog commenter says that Team Takeover Canada's Mike George was behind the boys leaving Kiski due to a lack of skill development at the school and the final straw was a not-so-great showing by them at the National Prep Showcase just before U.S. Thanksgiving.
We will keep our eyes and ears open for future developments from these three Canadian ballers.
I will also attempt to get a hold of George to see if he can shed some light into the shocking transfers.

Negus Webster-Chan, a Top 75 prospect originally from Ontario, Canada, was the highest-rated of three 2011 Huntington (WV) Prep prospects who made unofficial visits to Louisville Saturday for the Cardinals game against South Alabama at the KFC Yum! Center.
Negus Webster-Chan, a Top 75 prospect originally from Ontario, Canada, was the highest-rated of three 2011 Huntington (WV) Prep prospects who made unofficial visits to Louisville Saturday for the Cardinals game against South Alabama at the KFC Yum! Center.
Webster-Chan, a four-star prospect rated the No. 19 small forward in his class nationally, tripped to Louisville for the first time with Huntington coach Rob Fulford and teammates Stefan Jankovic, a 6-foot-8 power forward, and Darrick Wood, an athletic 6-foot-3 guard.
“It was real good,” Webster-Chan said. “I liked the atmosphere of the game. We got to go into the locker room and talk to Coach [Rick] Pitino [briefly].”
Chan, a skilled 6-foot-7 forward, reports offers from Marquette, UNLV, Iowa State, Cincinnati and Oklahoma State. Louisville, Clemson, West Virginia and Kentucky are also involved.
“Louisville is a great program and they have a great coach in Coach Pitino,” Webster-Chan said. “It looked like Coach Pitino has a great connection with his players on the court. And their new arena is amazing.”
Though Uof L hasn't offered a scholarship, the Cardinals stand out on Webster-Chan's list of favorites.
“Louisville is definitely at the top right now, even my mom likes them,” Webster-Chan. “I don't have a Top 5 or anything because I've still got two years left. So I'm open right now.”
Mark Lieberman is the point-man in Webster-Chan's recruitment. Webster-Chan said he speaks “often” with Louisville's assistant coach. “He's been recruiting the most out of all the coaches,” Webster-Chan said. “He's calls me whenever he can.” Webster-Chan, who averaged 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists as a sophomore at Pope John Paul II in Scarborough, Ontario, attends the same prep school as Louisville freshman center Gorgui Dieng. “I knew him from last year,” Webster-Chan said. “He said it's great there. He really likes it. He loves the coaching staff because he gets better every day.”
Chan's visit to Louisville isn't the only unofficial he's made recently. The talented forward also checked out Kentucky and West Virginia.
“I never got to see a game at Kentucky's main gym that they play in, but I got to see West Virginia's,” Webster-Chan said. “I liked Louisville's better than West Virginia. I saw Kentucky's practice facility and that was amazing, too.”
Webster-Chan emerged this summer after helping lead Team Canada to the Bronze Medal in the World Championship. He averaged 7 points and four rebounds in the event.
“When he’s playing well and aggressive he could potentially be a pro,” Fulford recently told Scout.com. “But sometimes he goes through the motions a little bit.
“He’s a skill guy. He’s 6’7. He can shoot. He can dribble. He’s comfortable with the ball in his hands. He can come off screens and he likes to play with the ball in his hands. We can use him at the point.”

THE GOODS

There's nothing like Sports...The thrill of U know what and the agony of....blah blah blah!
Join me...Drew Ebanks, a former Global TV(Sports) reporter as I delve deep INSIDE the world of Dunks, Goals and Touchdowns!
TIME TO RISE UP!